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Lyu S, Põldver N, Kask L, Wang L, Kreegipuu K. Effect of musical expertise on the perception of duration and pitch in language: A cross-linguistic study. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2024; 244:104195. [PMID: 38412710 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2024.104195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Revised: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024] Open
Abstract
This study adopts a cross-linguistic perspective and investigates how musical expertise affects the perception of duration and pitch in language. Native speakers of Chinese (N = 44) and Estonian (N = 46), each group subdivided into musicians and non-musicians, participated in a mismatch negativity (MMN) experiment where they passively listened to both Chinese and Estonian stimuli, followed by a behavioral experiment where they attentively discriminated the stimuli in the non-native language (i.e., Chinese to Estonian participants and Estonian to Chinese participants). In both experiments, stimuli of duration change, pitch change, and duration plus pitch change were discriminated. We found higher behavioral sensitivity among Chinese musicians than non-musicians in perceiving the duration change in Estonian and higher behavioral sensitivity among Estonian musicians than non-musicians in perceiving all types of changes in Chinese, but no corresponding effect was found in the MMN results, which suggests a more salient effect of musical expertise on foreign language processing when attention is required. Secondly, Chinese musicians did not outperform non-musicians in attentively discriminating the pitch-related stimuli in Estonian, suggesting that musical expertise can be overridden by tonal language experience when perceiving foreign linguistic pitch, especially when an attentive discrimination task is administered. Thirdly, we found larger MMN among Chinese and Estonian musicians than their non-musician counterparts in perceiving the largest deviant (i.e., duration plus pitch) in their native language. Taken together, our results demonstrate a positive effect of musical expertise on language processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siqi Lyu
- Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Nele Põldver
- Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Liis Kask
- Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Luming Wang
- College of Foreign Languages, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Kairi Kreegipuu
- Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
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2
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Di Stefano N, Vuust P, Brattico E. Consonance and dissonance perception. A critical review of the historical sources, multidisciplinary findings, and main hypotheses. Phys Life Rev 2022; 43:273-304. [PMID: 36372030 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2022.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Revealed more than two millennia ago by Pythagoras, consonance and dissonance (C/D) are foundational concepts in music theory, perception, and aesthetics. The search for the biological, acoustical, and cultural factors that affect C/D perception has resulted in descriptive accounts inspired by arithmetic, musicological, psychoacoustical or neurobiological frameworks without reaching a consensus. Here, we review the key historical sources and modern multidisciplinary findings on C/D and integrate them into three main hypotheses: the vocal similarity hypothesis (VSH), the psychocultural hypothesis (PH), and the sensorimotor hypothesis (SH). By illustrating the hypotheses-related findings, we highlight their major conceptual, methodological, and terminological shortcomings. Trying to provide a unitary framework for C/D understanding, we put together multidisciplinary research on human and animal vocalizations, which converges to suggest that auditory roughness is associated with distress/danger and, therefore, elicits defensive behavioral reactions and neural responses that indicate aversion. We therefore stress the primacy of vocality and roughness as key factors in the explanation of C/D phenomenon, and we explore the (neuro)biological underpinnings of the attraction-aversion mechanisms that are triggered by C/D stimuli. Based on the reviewed evidence, while the aversive nature of dissonance appears as solidly rooted in the multidisciplinary findings, the attractive nature of consonance remains a somewhat speculative claim that needs further investigation. Finally, we outline future directions for empirical research in C/D, especially regarding cross-modal and cross-cultural approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Di Stefano
- Institute for Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (ISTC), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Via San Martino della Battaglia 44, 00185 Rome, Italy.
| | - Peter Vuust
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg (RAMA), 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
| | - Elvira Brattico
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg (RAMA), 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Education, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70122 Bari, Italy.
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3
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Tervaniemi M. Mismatch negativity-stimulation paradigms in past and in future. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:1025763. [PMID: 36466164 PMCID: PMC9713013 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1025763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 09/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Mismatch negativity (MMN) studies were initiated as part of a well-controlled experimental research tradition with the aim to identify some key principles of auditory processing and memory. During the past two decades, empirical paradigms have moved toward more ecologically valid ones while retaining rigid experimental control. In this paper, I will introduce this development of MMN stimulation paradigms starting from the paradigms used in basic science and then moving to paradigms that have been particularly relevant for studies on music learning and musical expertise. Via these historical and thematic perspectives, I wish to stimulate paradigm development further to meet the demands of naturalistic ecologically valid studies also when using MMN in the context of event-related potential technique that necessarily requires averaging across several stimulus presentations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mari Tervaniemi
- Center of Excellence in Music, Mind, Body, and Brain, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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4
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Wang L. Music Aptitude, Training, and Cognitive Transfer: A Mini-Review. Front Psychol 2022; 13:903920. [PMID: 35846628 PMCID: PMC9277581 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.903920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
In this mini-review, the genetic basis of music aptitude and the effects of music training are discussed. The review indicates that regardless of levels of innate ability, experience-induced neuroplasticity can occur as a result of music training. When that happens, it can be expressed as functional or structural brain changes. These changes are often accompanied by improvement in performance in tasks involving auditory analysis. Specifically, music training effects can transfer to a closely related cognitive domain such as auditory processing (near transfer). Music training can also affect more distantly related cognitive domains such as spatial and linguistic domains. Lastly, music training can affect general intelligence (“g”) (far transfer). Music training can mold behavioral brain development and confers cognitive benefits beyond music.
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5
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Pentikäinen E, Kimppa L, Makkonen T, Putkonen M, Pitkäniemi A, Salakka I, Paavilainen P, Tervaniemi M, Särkämö T. Benefits of choir singing on complex auditory encoding in the aging brain: An ERP study. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2022; 1514:82-92. [PMID: 35596717 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Aging is accompanied by difficulties in auditory information processing, especially in more complex sound environments. Choir singing requires efficient processing of multiple sound features and could, therefore, mitigate the detrimental effects of aging on complex auditory encoding. We recorded auditory event-related potentials during passive listening of sounds in healthy older adult (≥ 60 years) choir singers and nonsinger controls. We conducted a complex oddball condition involving encoding of abstract regularities in combinations of pitch and location features, as well as in two simple oddball conditions, in which only either the pitch or spatial location of the sounds was varied. We analyzed change-related mismatch negativity (MMN) and obligatory P1 and N1 responses in each condition. In the complex condition, the choir singers showed a larger MMN than the controls, which also correlated with better performance in a verbal fluency test. In the simple pitch and location conditions, the choir singers had smaller N1 responses compared to the control subjects, whereas the MMN responses did not differ between groups. These results suggest that regular choir singing is associated both with more enhanced encoding of complex auditory regularities and more effective adaptation to simple sound features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emmi Pentikäinen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Lilli Kimppa
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tommi Makkonen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Mikko Putkonen
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Anni Pitkäniemi
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Ilja Salakka
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Petri Paavilainen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Mari Tervaniemi
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Department of Education, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Teppo Särkämö
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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6
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Partanen E, Kivimäki R, Huotilainen M, Ylinen S, Tervaniemi M. Musical perceptual skills, but not neural auditory processing, are associated with better reading ability in childhood. Neuropsychologia 2022; 169:108189. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2021] [Revised: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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7
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Spence C, Di Stefano N. Crossmodal Harmony: Looking for the Meaning of Harmony Beyond Hearing. Iperception 2022; 13:20416695211073817. [PMID: 35186248 PMCID: PMC8850342 DOI: 10.1177/20416695211073817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2021] [Revised: 11/20/2021] [Accepted: 12/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
The notion of harmony was first developed in the context of metaphysics before being applied to the domain of music. However, in recent centuries, the term has often been used to describe especially pleasing combinations of colors by those working in the visual arts too. Similarly, the harmonization of flavors is nowadays often invoked as one of the guiding principles underpinning the deliberate pairing of food and drink. However, beyond the various uses of the term to describe and construct pleasurable unisensory perceptual experiences, it has also been suggested that music and painting may be combined harmoniously (e.g., see the literature on “color music”). Furthermore, those working in the area of “sonic seasoning” sometimes describe certain sonic compositions as harmonizing crossmodally with specific flavor sensations. In this review, we take a critical look at the putative meaning(s) of the term “harmony” when used in a crossmodal, or multisensory, context. Furthermore, we address the question of whether the term's use outside of a strictly unimodal auditory context should be considered literally or merely metaphorically (i.e., as a shorthand to describe those combinations of sensory stimuli that, for whatever reason, appear to go well together, and hence which can be processed especially fluently).
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Spence
- Crossmodal Research Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Nicola Di Stefano
- Institute for Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Rome, Italy
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8
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Quiroga-Martinez DR, Hansen NC, Højlund A, Pearce M, Brattico E, Holmes E, Friston K, Vuust P. Musicianship and melodic predictability enhance neural gain in auditory cortex during pitch deviance detection. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:5595-5608. [PMID: 34459062 PMCID: PMC8559476 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Revised: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
When listening to music, pitch deviations are more salient and elicit stronger prediction error responses when the melodic context is predictable and when the listener is a musician. Yet, the neuronal dynamics and changes in connectivity underlying such effects remain unclear. Here, we employed dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to investigate whether the magnetic mismatch negativity response (MMNm)-and its modulation by context predictability and musical expertise-are associated with enhanced neural gain of auditory areas, as a plausible mechanism for encoding precision-weighted prediction errors. Using Bayesian model comparison, we asked whether models with intrinsic connections within primary auditory cortex (A1) and superior temporal gyrus (STG)-typically related to gain control-or extrinsic connections between A1 and STG-typically related to propagation of prediction and error signals-better explained magnetoencephalography responses. We found that, compared to regular sounds, out-of-tune pitch deviations were associated with lower intrinsic (inhibitory) connectivity in A1 and STG, and lower backward (inhibitory) connectivity from STG to A1, consistent with disinhibition and enhanced neural gain in these auditory areas. More predictable melodies were associated with disinhibition in right A1, while musicianship was associated with disinhibition in left A1 and reduced connectivity from STG to left A1. These results indicate that musicianship and melodic predictability, as well as pitch deviations themselves, enhance neural gain in auditory cortex during deviance detection. Our findings are consistent with predictive processing theories suggesting that precise and informative error signals are selected by the brain for subsequent hierarchical processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- David R Quiroga-Martinez
- Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University & Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Niels Christian Hansen
- Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University & Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark.,Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Andreas Højlund
- Center for Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Marcus Pearce
- School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Elvira Brattico
- Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University & Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark.,Department of Education, Psychology and Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Emma Holmes
- The Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, UCL, London, UK
| | - Karl Friston
- The Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, UCL, London, UK
| | - Peter Vuust
- Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University & Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark
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9
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Abstract
Abstract
The mini-review provides an overview on the differences between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Recent studies highlight the contribution of the two hemispheres to the physical and mental control, and the interaction language-music. We focused the attention on the behaviour of the right and left hemispheres about the music and on what happens when music areas are damaged.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Gizzi
- Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Torino , Italy
| | - Elisabetta Albi
- Department of Pharmaceutical Science, University of Perugia, Perugia , Italy
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10
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Markovic A, Kühnis J, Jäncke L. Task Context Influences Brain Activation during Music Listening. Front Hum Neurosci 2017; 11:342. [PMID: 28706480 PMCID: PMC5489556 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2017] [Accepted: 06/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper, we examined brain activation in subjects during two music listening conditions: listening while simultaneously rating the musical piece being played [Listening and Rating (LR)] and listening to the musical pieces unconstrained [Listening (L)]. Using these two conditions, we tested whether the sequence in which the two conditions were fulfilled influenced the brain activation observable during the L condition (LR → L or L → LR). We recorded high-density EEG during the playing of four well-known positively experienced soundtracks in two subject groups. One group started with the L condition and continued with the LR condition (L → LR); the second group performed this experiment in reversed order (LR → L). We computed from the recorded EEG the power for different frequency bands (theta, lower alpha, upper alpha, lower beta, and upper beta). Statistical analysis revealed that the power in all examined frequency bands increased during the L condition but only when the subjects had not had previous experience with the LR condition (i.e., L → LR). For the subjects who began with the LR condition, there were no power increases during the L condition. Thus, the previous experience with the LR condition prevented subjects from developing the particular mental state associated with the typical power increase in all frequency bands. The subjects without previous experience of the LR condition listened to the musical pieces in an unconstrained and undisturbed manner and showed a general power increase in all frequency bands. We interpret the fact that unconstrained music listening was associated with increased power in all examined frequency bands as a neural indicator of a mental state that can best be described as a mind-wandering state during which the subjects are “drawn into” the music.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andjela Markovic
- Division Neuropsychology, Institute of Psychology, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland
| | - Jürg Kühnis
- Division Neuropsychology, Institute of Psychology, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland
| | - Lutz Jäncke
- Division Neuropsychology, Institute of Psychology, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland.,International Normal Aging and Plasticity Imaging Center, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland.,University Research Priority Program, Dynamic of Healthy Aging, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland
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11
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Bridwell DA, Leslie E, McCoy DQ, Plis SM, Calhoun VD. Cortical Sensitivity to Guitar Note Patterns: EEG Entrainment to Repetition and Key. Front Hum Neurosci 2017; 11:90. [PMID: 28298889 PMCID: PMC5331856 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2016] [Accepted: 02/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Music is ubiquitous throughout recent human culture, and many individual's have an innate ability to appreciate and understand music. Our appreciation of music likely emerges from the brain's ability to process a series of repeated complex acoustic patterns. In order to understand these processes further, cortical responses were measured to a series of guitar notes presented with a musical pattern or without a pattern. ERP responses to individual notes were measured using a 24 electrode Bluetooth mobile EEG system (Smarting mBrainTrain) while 13 healthy non-musicians listened to structured (i.e., within musical keys and with repetition) or random sequences of guitar notes for 10 min each. We demonstrate an increased amplitude to the ERP that appears ~200 ms to notes presented within the musical sequence. This amplitude difference between random notes and patterned notes likely reflects individual's cortical sensitivity to guitar note patterns. These amplitudes were compared to ERP responses to a rare note embedded within a stream of frequent notes to determine whether the sensitivity to complex musical structure overlaps with the sensitivity to simple irregularities reflected in traditional auditory oddball experiments. Response amplitudes to the negative peak at ~175 ms are statistically correlated with the mismatch negativity (MMN) response measured to a rare note presented among a series of frequent notes (i.e., in a traditional oddball sequence), but responses to the subsequent positive peak at ~200 do not show a statistical relationship with the P300 response. Thus, the sensitivity to musical structure identified to 4 Hz note patterns appears somewhat distinct from the sensitivity to statistical regularities reflected in the traditional "auditory oddball" sequence. Overall, we suggest that this is a promising approach to examine individual's sensitivity to complex acoustic patterns, which may overlap with higher level cognitive processes, including language.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Dakarai Q McCoy
- The Mind Research NetworkAlbuquerque, NM, USA; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of New MexicoAlbuquerque, NM, USA; The MARC Program, University of New MexicoAlbuquerque, NM, USA
| | | | - Vince D Calhoun
- The Mind Research NetworkAlbuquerque, NM, USA; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of New MexicoAlbuquerque, NM, USA
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12
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Proverbio AM, Orlandi A, Pisanu F. Brain processing of consonance/dissonance in musicians and controls: a hemispheric asymmetry revisited. Eur J Neurosci 2016; 44:2340-56. [DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2016] [Revised: 06/28/2016] [Accepted: 07/01/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alice Mado Proverbio
- Milan-Mi Center for Neuroscience; Department of Psychology; University of Milano-Bicocca; piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1 U6 Building Milan Italy
| | - Andrea Orlandi
- Milan-Mi Center for Neuroscience; Department of Psychology; University of Milano-Bicocca; piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1 U6 Building Milan Italy
| | - Francesca Pisanu
- Milan-Mi Center for Neuroscience; Department of Psychology; University of Milano-Bicocca; piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1 U6 Building Milan Italy
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13
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Virtala P, Huotilainen M, Partanen E, Tervaniemi M. Musicianship facilitates the processing of Western music chords--an ERP and behavioral study. Neuropsychologia 2014; 61:247-58. [PMID: 24992584 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.06.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2014] [Revised: 06/19/2014] [Accepted: 06/23/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
The present study addressed the effects of musicianship on neural and behavioral discrimination of Western music chords. In abstract oddball paradigms, minor chords and inverted major chords were presented in the context of major chords to musician and non-musician participants in a passive listening task (with EEG recordings) and in an active discrimination task. Both sinusoidal sounds and harmonically rich piano sounds were used. Musicians outperformed non-musicians in the discrimination task. Change-related mismatch negativity (MMN) was evoked to minor and inverted major chords in musicians only, and N1 amplitude was larger in musicians than non-musicians. While MMN was absent in non-musicians, both groups showed decreased N1 in response to minor compared to major chords. The results indicate that processing of complex musical stimuli is enhanced in musicians both behaviorally and neurally, but that major-minor chord categorization is present to some extent also in the absence of music training.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Virtala
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 9, Helsinki 00014, Finland.
| | - M Huotilainen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 9, Helsinki 00014, Finland; Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland
| | - E Partanen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 9, Helsinki 00014, Finland
| | - M Tervaniemi
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 9, Helsinki 00014, Finland
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14
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Putkinen V, Tervaniemi M, Saarikivi K, Ojala P, Huotilainen M. Enhanced development of auditory change detection in musically trained school-aged children: a longitudinal event-related potential study. Dev Sci 2013; 17:282-97. [PMID: 24283257 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2012] [Accepted: 06/24/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Vesa Putkinen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit; Cognitive Science; Institute of Behavioural Sciences; University of Helsinki; Finland
- Finnish Centre of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Music Research; University of Jyväskylä; Finland
| | - Mari Tervaniemi
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit; Cognitive Science; Institute of Behavioural Sciences; University of Helsinki; Finland
- Finnish Centre of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Music Research; University of Jyväskylä; Finland
- Department of Psychology; University of Jyväskylä; Finland
| | - Katri Saarikivi
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit; Cognitive Science; Institute of Behavioural Sciences; University of Helsinki; Finland
- Finnish Centre of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Music Research; University of Jyväskylä; Finland
| | - Pauliina Ojala
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit; Cognitive Science; Institute of Behavioural Sciences; University of Helsinki; Finland
- Finnish Centre of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Music Research; University of Jyväskylä; Finland
| | - Minna Huotilainen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit; Cognitive Science; Institute of Behavioural Sciences; University of Helsinki; Finland
- Finnish Centre of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Music Research; University of Jyväskylä; Finland
- Finnish Institute of Occupational Health; Helsinki Finland
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15
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Ellis RJ, Bruijn B, Norton AC, Winner E, Schlaug G. Training-mediated leftward asymmetries during music processing: a cross-sectional and longitudinal fMRI analysis. Neuroimage 2013; 75:97-107. [PMID: 23470982 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.02.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2012] [Revised: 02/19/2013] [Accepted: 02/20/2013] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Practicing a musical instrument has a profound impact on the structure and function of the human brain. The present fMRI study explored how relative hemispheric asymmetries in task-related activity during music processing (same/different discrimination) are shaped by musical training (quantified as cumulative hours of instrument practice), using both a large (N=84) cross-sectional data set of children and adults, and a smaller (N=20) two time-point longitudinal data set of children tracked over 3 to 5 years. The cross-sectional analysis revealed a significant leftward asymmetry in task-related activation, with peaks in Heschl's gyrus and supramarginal gyrus (SMG). The SMG peak was further characterized by a leftward asymmetry in the partial correlation strength with subjects' cumulative hours of practice, controlling for subjects' age and task performance. This SMG peak was found to exhibit a similar pattern of response in the longitudinal data set (in this case, with subjects' cumulative hours of practice over the course of the study), controlling for age, scan interval, and amount of instrument practice prior to the first scan. This study presents novel insights into the ways musical instrument training shapes task-related asymmetries in neural activity during music processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert J Ellis
- Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Ave, Palmer 127, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Bente Bruijn
- Medical Faculty AMC-UvA, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Andrea C Norton
- Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Ave, Palmer 127, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Ellen Winner
- Department of Psychology, Boston College, McGuinn Hall, 140 Commonwealth Ave., Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
| | - Gottfried Schlaug
- Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Ave, Palmer 127, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
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Virtala P, Huotilainen M, Putkinen V, Makkonen T, Tervaniemi M. Musical training facilitates the neural discrimination of major versus minor chords in 13-year-old children. Psychophysiology 2012; 49:1125-32. [PMID: 22681183 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2012.01386.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2011] [Accepted: 03/17/2012] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Music practice since childhood affects the development of hearing skills. An important classification in Western music is the chords' major-minor dichotomy. Its preattentive auditory discrimination was studied here using a mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm in 13-year-olds with active hobbies, music-related (music group) or other (control group). In a context of root major chords, root minor chords and inverted major chords were presented infrequently. The interval structure of inverted majors differs more from root majors than the interval structure of root minors. However, the identity of the chords is the same in inverted and root majors (major), but different in root minors. The deviant chords introduced no new frequencies to the paradigm. Hence, an MMN caused by physical deviance was prevented. An MMN was elicited by the minor chords but not by the inverted majors. The MMN amplitude in the music group was larger than in the control group. Thus, the conceptual discrimination skills are present already in the preattentive processing level of the auditory cortex, and musical training can advance these skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Virtala
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
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